Laurence Fishburne & Larenz Tate Team For Audio Drama About Numbers Game

Hoping to build on the success of podcasts such as pop culture phenom Serial, Laurence Fishburne’s Cinema Gypsy Productions and Larenz Tate’s TateMen Entertainment are partnering to produce Policy Kings, the first scripted audio series from digital audio ad sales company AudioHQ.

Originally conceived by TateMen Entertainment, Policy Kings is a 10-episode audio drama written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Josh Olson (A History of Violence). The series, which will launch in fall 2016, chronicles the lives of the players in Chicago’s “policy” numbers games of the 1940s and illuminates the self-sustaining African American community of Bronzeville. The numbers game or policy racket was an illegal lottery played mostly in poor neighborhoods. It swept Chicago’s black community in the 1940s and was eventually taken over by the mafia. Kc Wayland’s Wayland Productions (audio series We’re Alive) will handle physical production.

5 Comments

Congrats to all involved. Original and innovative approach. Continued success.

Anonymous • on Mar 24, 2016 10:24 pm

Where has Josh Olson been hiding all of these years? Glad to see he’s not a one and done.

M.D. • on Mar 25, 2016 9:42 am

I’m sure Josh has been working his proverbial arse off – just because we haven’t heard from him for a while doesn’t mean he’s not out there – it’s just so difficult to get things made nowadays. A lot of writers take works-for-hire just to pay the bills, hoping something hits. Glad to see he’s back, too. Smart, savvy, creative dude.

ashleighmarie • on Mar 26, 2016 11:22 pm

Looking forward to this. Proud to see these two great actors/storytellers utilizing an underused medium to tell quality minority stories.